A transplant drug, a brain's blood flow, and a new lead on protecting memory

Twenty-three middle-aged adults, none with any sign of memory trouble, took a small daily dose of rapamycin — a drug long used to protect transplanted organs — for four weeks. University of Missouri researchers were watching the nine volunteers who carry APOE4, a gene variant that raises Alzheimer's risk. In that group, blood flow to several brain regions rose by more than 15%; in volunteers without the variant, it did not. Published in the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, the study is early and small, and the drug is not a proven dementia preventive. But it points prevention research at a new place to look: the brain's plumbing, years before symptoms.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation